Method and system for implementing a backup validation engine

ABSTRACT

An embodiment of the present invention is directed to a backup validation engine. The backup validation engine comprises: a plurality of data sources comprising a central asset repository; a central repository of backups data; a central repository of network attached storage, a central application portfolio repository; and central repository of tape backup data; an interface user interface; and a data mapping processor, coupled to the plurality of data sources and interactive user interface, programmed to: access data from each of the plurality of data sources; map data from the plurality of data sources; identify performance issues comprising: duplicate host policies, hosts back-up, missing backup of hosts, duplicate NAS policies, NAS volume backup, and missing NAS backup; generate a backup validation plan to address one or more performance issues; and automatically initiate the backup validation plan.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.15/498,711, filed Apr. 27, 2017, which claims the benefit of priority toU.S. Provisional Application 62/328,232, filed Apr. 27, 2016, thecontent of which are both incorporated herein by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention generally relates to a backup validation enginethat provides a comprehensive solution that reduces risk, cuts costs andensures an entity's assets are correctly backed up while reducing wastedresources.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Backup of assets is an important function for an Enterprise from aregulatory as well as disaster recovery perspective. Assets may includeservers, databases, host devices and/or other devices, such as Q Trees.A Q-tree may represent a tree data structure where each internal nodehas multiple children nodes (e.g., four). With constant additions andupgrades of infrastructure, traditional backup processes are prone tofall through the cracks. Some entities may have hundreds of servers anddozens of Q-trees per server. As a result, these entities may havethousands of backup validations that need to be performed on a weekly orperiodic basis. Also, issues with certifications, re-certifications,policy renewals, policy applications and other compliance issues mayneed to be addressed for individual lines of business. A considerableamount of hardware resources such as network, storage and humanresources are wasted due to: duplicate backups; inappropriate backups(e.g., DEV/UAT environment being backed up); and incorrect backuppolicies. DEV represents a development server and database environment(i.e., non-production). UAT represents a user acceptance testingenvironment which mirrors the production environment for final stagetesting before any changes are moved to production. It is not aproduction environment and therefore does not necessarily requirebackups to be made. As data is spread across different vendor andin-house tools, such as CMDB, TAMS, Brews, SORD, there are no commonintegration points to retrieve the backup data easily. In fact, atremendous amount of effort, time and costs are incurred to identify thebreaks.

Currently, there are independent tools in the market focused on solvinga specific problem statement, but there is a significant vacuum ofsolutions that integrates these different products when data flows fromone tool to another to generate useful insights based on user drivenbusiness logic.

These and other drawbacks exist.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, one aspect of the invention is to address one or more ofthe drawbacks set forth above. According to an embodiment of the presentinvention, a backup validation engine comprises: a plurality of datasources comprising a central asset repository; a central repository ofbackups data; a central repository of network attached storage, acentral application portfolio repository; and central repository of tapebackup data. The backup validation engine further comprises an interfaceuser interface; and a data mapping processor, coupled to the pluralityof data sources and interactive user interface, programmed to: accessdata from each of the plurality of data sources; map data from theplurality of data sources; identify performance issues comprising:duplicate host policies, hosts back-up, missing backup of hosts,duplicate NAS policies, NAS volume backup, and missing NAS backup;generate a backup validation plan to address one or more performanceissues; and automatically initiate the backup validation plan.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, an automatedcomputer implemented method that implements backup validation enginecomprises the steps of: accessing data from each of a plurality of datasources, wherein the plurality of data sources comprising a centralasset repository; a central repository of backups data; a centralrepository of network attached storage, a central application portfoliorepository; and central repository of tape backup data; mapping, via adata mapping processor, data from the plurality of data sources;identifying performance issues comprising: duplicate host policies,hosts back-up, missing backup of hosts, duplicate NAS policies, NASvolume backup, and missing NAS backup; generating a backup validationplan to address one or more performance issues; and automaticallyinitiating, via an interactive user interface, the backup validationplan.

These and other embodiments and advantages of the invention will becomeapparent from the following detailed description, taken in conjunctionwith the accompanying drawings, illustrating by way of example theprinciples of the various exemplary embodiments.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In order to facilitate a fuller understanding of the present inventions,reference is now made to the appended drawings. These drawings shouldnot be construed as limiting the present inventions, but are intended tobe exemplary only.

FIG. 1 is an exemplary data flow diagram of a Backup Validation Engine,according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIGS. 2A, 2B and 2C illustrate exemplary backup scenarios, according toan embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 illustrates a schematic diagram of a system that implements aBackup Validation Engine, according to an exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 4 is an exemplary illustration of an interactive user interface,according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is an exemplary illustration of an interactive user interface,according to an embodiment of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION

The following description is intended to convey an understanding of thepresent invention by providing specific embodiments and details. It isunderstood, however, that the present invention is not limited to thesespecific embodiments and details, which are exemplary only. It isfurther understood that one possessing ordinary skill in the art, inlight of known systems and methods, would appreciate the use of theinvention for its intended purposes and benefits in any number ofalternative embodiments, depending upon specific design and other needs.

An embodiment of the present invention is directed to a system andmethod that implements a Backup Validation Engine that provides acomprehensive solution that reduces risk, cuts costs and ensures anentity's assets are correctly backed up while minimizing wastedresources. The Backup Validation Engine may be configurable at a team,group and entity wide level and may provide an interactive userinterface, such as a detailed dashboard, aggregating the breaks. Anembodiment of the present invention is directed to parsing informationsystematically from various sources and tools, e.g., vendor and in-housetools, by referencing an entity's central asset catalogue. The BackupValidation Engine is directed to flagging missing back-ups, flaggingduplicate backups, flagging DEV/UAT backups (e.g., exceptions may behandled); and flagging incorrect backup policies.

An embodiment of the present invention is directed to handling variousscope changes when new assets are allocated and/or old onesdecommissioned from a central asset catalogue. The system provides acomprehensive view to application owners, backup administrators and tocontrol owners about the data resiliency capability of an application.The system intelligently connects across various different data sourcesand drives meaningful information where different users can take actionto address specific issues to the user's team, line of business, etc.

An embodiment of the present invention provides the ability to map andeffectively highlight breaks with the available raw data from a suite ofinternal and/or external tools. For example, a mapping activity mayinvolve discovery of records in a firmwide backup database to specificitems to backup (e.g., server, database, storage, etc.). Highlighting abreak may refer to discovery of a critical item in the productionenvironment (e.g., server, database, storage, etc.) which should havebackups enabled; however, a backup record for this specific item may notbe present in the firmwide backup database. Conversely, this may alsorefer to discovery of a database record in the firmwide backup databasewithout a successful backup (e.g., failure of the actual backup action).

An embodiment of the present invention is directed to an interactiveinterface, e.g., dashboard, where users may run through thousands andthousands of entries and view areas that are missed, incorrect, missingor even failing in a particular area.

Many organizations or entities, e.g., financial institutions, etc., havehundreds of servers with tens of Q-tress per server. These entities mayhave thousands of backup validations that need to occur on a weekly orperiodic basis. A critical component of day-to-day operations isensuring that reliable backups are being made and properly managed. Anentity is further required to manage certifications, re-certifications,policy renewals, policy applications and ensure that individual lines ofbusinesses are compliant for retention records.

An embodiment of the present invention is directed to an interactiveinterface or dashboard that performs a periodic or ad hoc analysis ofthousands and thousands of entries to identify what (if anything) isbeing missed; whether there are incorrect entries; what is failing in asystemic area, whether there are duplicate entries as well as otherissues. An embodiment of the present invention may perform analysis at aservice level, a multiservice level, a firm wide level as well as acustomized, user defined, project specific level. For example, anembodiment of the present invention may further analyze an entireinventory and identify a recurring error or issue. The information maybe identified and analyzed in various formats, e.g., reports,interactive interfaces, alerts, messages, etc. For example, a user mayinteract with and view the underlying data, e.g., raw data, associatedwith the analysis.

The interactive interface may represent a web interface with automatedpivot tables (or other tool that extracts and filters data) to enablethe user to filter and/or organize the data for specific views. Forexample, a user may view a series of sections of servers, environments,operating system (OS) level where the data may be viewed based onvarious time periods, e.g., days, as well as by procedure, by number ofpolicies.

An embodiment of the present invention may generate and initiateresponsive actions (e.g., remediate action, etc.) based on based on theanalysis and feedback. For example, the Backup Validation Engine mayprovide analysis on individual assets as well as the type of data beingbacked up (e.g., development data, configuration data, etc.). Aninteractive interface may identify certain configurations that aretargeted for removal and the system may automatically implement removal.For example, the system may identify assets set for decommission andfurther initiate a decommissioning of the backups. The system mayfurther identify and notify owners of a recommended decommissioningplan. The plan may identify backup issues (e.g., missed data, duplicatebackups, retention policies, etc.) and recommend a decommissioning ofassets, reconfiguration, update of retention policy. The plan may alsoprovide performance data, savings in cost, time and resources as well asother metrics.

With the Backup Validation Engine, duplicate entries as they exist in acentralized or other repository may be identified and further reducedand/or eliminated. For example, an embodiment of the present inventionmay recognize that a system implements both a task backup and acorresponding official backup. As a result, the system now has twobackup policies backing up the same data likely during different timesof the data. An entity is now paying for double the cost for backing upthe same data. The Backup Validation Engine is able to analyze theparticular policies in question against particular assets and determinethat one was set up as a task to make sure that the servers orapplications were ready to be within production ready status but wasnever taken off that status. An entity may then reduce these costs froma daily basis as well as for data retention policies. An embodiment ofthe present invention may recognize data retention policies that arebased on lines of business or in a particular area. Such data retentionpolicies may be effective for many years (e.g., 5, 10, indefinite). Anembodiment of the present invention recognizes that there are only a fewinstances where data needs to be retained indefinitely. Most instancescan be managed more efficiently. For example, a bank may have anapplication or even an entire platform or service that has been retired(and is now obsolete). A retention policy may require the correspondingdata to be stored offsite for a period of time, which results in wastedresources and payments for storage that is simply not needed. Forcertain industries, there may be lines of businesses with very strictlimits on data retention and auditing reasons. An embodiment of thepresent invention achieves a balance between data retention policies andunnecessary and duplicative backups.

According to an exemplary embodiment, an entity may have multiple datasources, where each data source is maintained and managed separately.For example, one data source may host information about inventory andanother data source may manage information relating to NAS Q-trees.Another data source may hold information concerning applications,application developer managers, whether the application is retired andwhether the application is maintained. Yet another data source may holdinformation about backups. An embodiment of the present invention isdirected to intelligently connect across multiple different data sourcesand then drive meaningful information concerning backup validations andother related data.

The Backup Validation Engine identifies an entity's risk exposure byidentifying servers that are relied upon by various users, teams,divisions, etc., on a daily basis that are not being backup properly orat all. The Backup Validation Engine identifies an amount of waste thatcurrently exists in a system. For example, an entity may perform regularbackups on all data maintained by servers, including backups forapplications that are retired and/or obsolete. For example, a mobileapplication may be set to close. Associated data, includingtransactions, customer configurations, etc. may be stored in a databaseseparate from actual servers that support the data that interfaces withthe user. An embodiment of the present invention may remove the data(e.g., configuration data on hardware that is now longer used or evenavailable) and any associated backup process and make sure theinformation that is needed is secured at the right level at the righttime. An entity may continue to pay for server configurations on anapplication that is now obsolete. An embodiment of the present inventionrecognizes that the data itself for such applications may have adifferent control factor than the underlying servers that serve thedata.

With the Backup Validation Engine, a user may view data at variouslevels, e.g., individual user level, line of business level, etc. Forexample, a user may be responsible for a project, application, etc. Theuser may then filter the data and view the user's global footprint andview backup costs that are associated with a particular asset or groupof assets. For example, the user may filter and view a specificenvironment that relates to a specific user's production.

An embodiment of the present invention may automate asset configuration,which may be aligned with a default use configuration for a particularline of business, user, department, product, service, etc. For example,for a production, the system may automatically set backup to one year.The production may then be associated with a default line of business,e.g., 5 years. Accordingly, the asset is now associated with a 5 yearbackup simply due to an natural progression of the production within theentity. The system of an embodiment of the present invention may performinternal checks to ensure that a single policy is associated with anasset and that the policy is appropriate for the current activitiesassociated with the asset. For example, an entity may represent afinancial institution that has a line of business, e.g., mobile banking,associated with a particular server or set of servers. The mobilebanking line of business may have a 7 year retention policy. Forinternational services, the retention policy may increase to 10 years.An embodiment of the present invention provides baseline configurationoptions to ensure that risk exposure is reduced significantly by makingsure the assets that are aligned to a specific application in therelevant regions are being backed-up appropriately.

For example, retention policies may range and may even be tailored foreach particular line of business. Some policies may require transferringdata to a particular medium (e.g., backup tapes, etc.) in a particularenvironment (e.g., fireproof, flood proof, radiation proof area, etc.).

FIG. 1 is an exemplary data flow diagram of a Backup Validation Engine,according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 illustratesan initiation stage 110, data sources 112, data mapping process 114,intermediate reports generation 116, and an interactive user interface,such as, a final dashboard 118.

An embodiment of the present invention, may access the system via a readonly database connection. The process may be initiated at Start 120. Asshown at Data Sources 112, sources of data may include CMDB/TAMS, BREWS,SORD, SEAL and APTARE. Other sources of data may be implemented.

Total Asset Management System (TAMS) may represent a central AssetRepository of an entity. All Assets may be registered in TAMS firstbefore provisioning or an action can be performed on the assets. Datafrom TAMS may flow into Configuration Management Database (CMDB), forexample.

Backup Review Web System (BREWS) may store Backups-related informationof the entity. This may include, for example, Backup Time, BackupStatus, Backup Policies, Backup Size, Volume names of what is beingbacked-up etc.

Standards, Engineering & Architecture Library (SEAL) may represent acentral tool that stores information related to an ApplicationPortfolio. For example, every Application running on any environment inan entity may be first entered and approved in SEAL.

SORD may represent a central tool that stores information associatedwith Network Attached Storage (NAS).

APTARE may represent a tool that stores the information related to TapeData. For example, APTARE data may be in a flat file or other format.

The sources of data illustrated in FIG. 1 are exemplary and forillustration purposes. Other sources of data may be implemented.

Data Mapping 114 may collect data from the various data sources,represented by 112. Intermediate Reports may be generated at 116. Forexample, an embodiment of the present invention may identify duplicatehost policies 134, hosts back-ups 136, missing backup of hosts 138,duplicate NAS policies 140, NAS volume backup 142, missing NAS backup144 as well as other reports. The reports and other metrics may bepresented via an interactive user interface, represented by FinalDashboard Reports 146. The user of the system may perform analysis andautomated actions responsive to the reports. Also, data from the reportsmay be formatted and communicated to various recipients, e.g., owners,managers, etc. The recipients may be internal as well as external to theentity (e.g., regulatory agency, government entity, third party, etc.).The process may be complete at End 148.

FIGS. 2A, 2B and 2C illustrate exemplary backup scenarios, according toan embodiment of the present invention. An embodiment of the presentinvention may be directed to determining how NAS Data is backed up.Using this data, an embodiment of the present invention may identifywhere the data backup flow might break and as a result, fail to getreported. An embodiment of the present invention is further directed tohighlighting backup setups that may be incorrect and different from aset of Standards and therefore should be remediated.

FIG. 2A represents a positive backup state, according to an embodimentof the present invention. PROD may represent a Production box from wherethe Network Attached Storage (NAS) data is replicated. Mirror mayrepresent a feature to copy data from one system to another. Forexample, Mirror may provide fast, efficient data replication anddisaster recovery for critical and other data. DR may represent aDisaster Recovery (DR) site where the data from PROD is copied to. Vaultmay represent a Backup Technology used for taking backup of source. Forexample, Vault may maintain a number of read-only versions of data.Vault may take FULL and INCREMENTAL backup of volumes and may also bereferred as an online archive as it allows quick restoration of data incase of any data corruption issues. Volume may represent a Vault volumewhere the data is backed up, which may also refer to an online archive,as data restoration from a vault volume may be performed quickly. Backupmay represent a process that moves the data from Vault volumes and/ordirectly from PROD/DR volumes to Tape. Tape may represent a final statewhich represents the availability of data on Tape.

As shown in FIG. 2A, PROD data is hitting the Vault volume and data maybe stored quickly in case of any data corruption issues in PROD fromVault. Data is then hitting the tape for long term retention. Typically,Vault volume data retention may be set for 60 days (or other timeperiod).

FIG. 2B represents a backup state which can be made more efficient,according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG.2B, PROD data is directly hitting the Tape for long term retention. Incase of a data corruption issue, the data restoration has to be donefrom Tape, which takes more time depending on how the backup policy isscheduled and also on the backup size.

FIG. 2C represents a backup state which requires immediate attention andremediation, according to an embodiment of the present invention. Asshown in FIG. 2C, PROD data is not hitting the Tape for long termretention. This scenario is not only risky for the application but mayalso have regulatory implications and/or other risks for the entity.

FIG. 3 illustrates a schematic diagram of a system that implements aBackup Validation Engine, according to an exemplary embodiment. Asillustrated in FIG. 3 , Network 302 may be communicatively coupled withone or more data devices including, for example, computing devicesassociated with end users. Such devices may include mobile devices,including mobile phones, smart devices, etc. Network 302 communicateswith Entity 330 that performs backup validation, system backups,archiving and other storage and maintenance functionality. Entity 330may include a Backup Validation Engine 332 that automates andfacilitates backup validation in accordance with the various embodimentsof the present invention. Backup Validation Engine 332 may alsoincorporate modules and other functions, such as User Interface 342 andProcessor 344. These modules are exemplary and illustrative, BackupValidation Engine 332 may interact with additional modules, acombination of the modules described and/or less modules thanillustrated. While a single illustrative block, module or component isshown, these illustrative blocks, modules or components may bemultiplied for various applications or different applicationenvironments. In addition, the modules or components may be furthercombined into a consolidated unit. The modules and/or components may befurther duplicated, combined and/or separated across multiple systems atlocal and/or remote locations. Other architectures may be realized.

Backup Validation Engine 332 may receive inputs from various sources ofdata, represented by Data Sources 346. Data sources may representinternal as well as external sources of data.

Data may be stored and managed by local storage represented by LocalDatabases 352, 354. Also, Local Databases 352, 354 may also store andmaintain configuration data, application data, customer data, productdata, service data as well as other information for day-to-dayoperations for various product lines, lines of business, etc. The backupvalidation features described herein may be provided by Entity 330and/or a third party provider, represented by 360, where Provider 360may operate with Entity 330.

In accordance with the various features of an embodiment of the presentinvention, Backup Validation Engine 332 may store and manage data inother locations, such as Archive Storage 360, 362, Remote Storage 364and other forms of storage represented by 366.

The system 300 of FIG. 3 may be implemented in a variety of ways.Architecture within system 300 may be implemented as hardware components(e.g., module) within one or more network elements. It should also beappreciated that architecture within system 300 may be implemented incomputer executable software (e.g., on a tangible, non-transitorycomputer-readable medium) located within one or more network elements.Module functionality of architecture within system 300 may be located ona single device or distributed across a plurality of devices includingone or more centralized servers and one or more mobile units or end userdevices. The architecture depicted in system 300 is meant to beexemplary and non-limiting. For example, while connections andrelationships between the elements of system 300 is depicted, it shouldbe appreciated that other connections and relationships are possible.The system 300 described below may be used to implement the variousmethods herein, by way of example. Various elements of the system 300may be referenced in explaining the exemplary methods described herein.

Network 302 may be a wireless network, a wired network or anycombination of wireless network and wired network. For example, Network302 may include one or more of an Internet network, a satellite network,a wide area network (“WAN”), a local area network (“LAN”), an ad hocnetwork, a Global System for Mobile Communication (“GSM”), a PersonalCommunication Service (“PCS”), a Personal Area Network (“PAN”), D-AMPS,Wi-Fi, Fixed Wireless Data, IEEE 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.15.1, 802.11g,802.11n, 802.11ac, or any other wired or wireless network fortransmitting or receiving a data signal. Also, Network 302 may supportan Internet network, a wireless communication network, a cellularnetwork, Bluetooth, or the like, or any combination thereof. Network 302may further include one, or any number of the exemplary types ofnetworks mentioned above operating as a stand-alone network or incooperation with each other. Network 302 may utilize one or moreprotocols of one or more network elements to which it is communicativelycoupled. Network 302 may translate to or from other protocols to one ormore protocols of network devices. Although Network 302 is depicted asone network for simplicity, it should be appreciated that according toone or more embodiments, Network 302 may comprise a plurality ofinterconnected networks, such as, for example, a service providernetwork, the Internet, a cellular network, corporate networks, or evenhome networks, or any of the types of networks mentioned above.

Data may be transmitted and received via Network 302 utilizing astandard networking protocol or a standard telecommunications protocol.For example, data may be transmitted using Session Initiation Protocol(“SIP”), Wireless Application Protocol (“WAP”), Multimedia MessagingService (“MMS”), Enhanced Messaging Service (“EMS”), Short MessageService (“SMS”), Global System for Mobile Communications (“GSM”) basedsystems, Code Division Multiple Access (“CDMA”) based systems,Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocols (“TCP/IP”), hypertexttransfer protocol (“HTTP”), hypertext transfer protocol secure(“HTTPS”), real time streaming protocol (“RTSP”), or other protocols andsystems suitable for transmitting and receiving data. Data may betransmitted and received wirelessly or in some cases may utilize cablednetwork or telecom connections such as an Ethernet RJ45/Category 5Ethernet connection, a fiber connection, a cable connection or otherwired network connection.

While FIG. 3 illustrates individual devices or components, it should beappreciated that there may be several of such devices to carry out thevarious exemplary embodiments. Entity 330 may communicate using anymobile or computing device, such as a laptop computer, a personaldigital assistant, a smartphone, a smartwatch, smart glasses, otherwearables or other computing devices capable of sending or receivingnetwork signals. Customer devices may have an application installed thatis associated with Entity 330.

Entity 330 may be communicatively coupled to Local Database 352, 354 aswell as Remote Storage represented by 360, 362, 364 and 366. Thesestorage components may include any suitable data structure to maintainthe information and allow access and retrieval of the information. Forexample, the storage components may keep the data in an organizedfashion and may be an Oracle database, a Microsoft SQL Server database,a DB2 database, a MySQL database, a Sybase database, an object orienteddatabase, a hierarchical database, a flat database, and/or another typeof database as may be known in the art to store and organize data asdescribed herein.

The storage may be local, remote, or a combination. The storagecomponents may utilize a redundant array of disks (RAID), striped disks,hot spare disks, tape, disk, or other computer accessible storage. Inone or more embodiments, the storage may be a storage area network(SAN), an internet small computer systems interface (iSCSI) SAN, a FiberChannel SAN, a common Internet File System (CIFS), network attachedstorage (NAS), or a network file system (NFS). The storage componentsmay have back-up capability built-in. Communications with the storagecomponents may be over a network, such as Network 302, or communicationsmay involve a direct connection between the various storage componentsand Entity 330, as depicted in FIG. 3 . The storage components may alsorepresent cloud or other network based storage.

FIG. 4 is an exemplary illustration of an interactive user interface,according to an embodiment of the present invention. User Interface 410may represent an interactive interface accessible by various userdevices, including computing devices, mobile devices, etc. As shown inFIG. 4 , User Interface 410 may identify and analyze backup data andprocedures associated with Teams, Assets and/or other segment or group,represented by Team/Assets 412. Backup Validation Engine may identifyand analyze data relating to Hosts 420, Q Trees 422, and/or other assetsor data structure represented by Other 424. Backup Validation Engine mayidentify potential candidates for attention and correction, such asmissing entries at 430, failed entries at 432 and duplicate entries at434. User Interface 410 may provide actions, such as sending an alert,at 450 and initiating an Action, represented by Remediate/Action 452.Other actions and responses may be identified and automaticallyinitiated.

These modules are exemplary and illustrative, User Interface 410 mayprovide additional modules, a combination of the modules describedand/or less modules than illustrated. While a single illustrative block,module or component is shown, these illustrative blocks, modules orcomponents may be multiplied for various applications or differentapplication environments. In addition, the modules or components may befurther combined into a consolidated unit. The modules and/or componentsmay be further duplicated, combined and/or separated across multiplesystems at local and/or remote locations. Other architectures may berealized.

FIG. 5 is an exemplary illustration of an interactive user interface,according to an embodiment of the present invention. In this exemplaryembodiment, FIG. 5 illustrates a dashboard interface. According to anexemplary illustration, the interface may highlight duplicates,inappropriate and incorrect backups. The rows may include variousmetrics and data including, for example: ALL_Hosts_In_Brews mayrepresent a count of all hosts in TAMS that are backed up in BREWS.DEV_Hosts may represent a count of all DEV hosts in TAMS that are backedup in BREWS. UAT_Hosts may represent a count of all UAT hosts in TAMSthat are backed up in BREWS. PROD/DR_Hosts may represent a count of allPROD/DR hosts in TAMS that are backed up in BREWS. Missing_Hosts mayrepresent a count of all hosts that are available in TAMS but are notbacked up in BREWS. Failed_Hosts Backup may represent a count of allhosts where backup has failed in BREWS (Full Backup OR IncrementalBackup). ALL_QTrees_In_Brews may represent a count of all Q-Trees beingbacked up in BREWS. QTrees_DEV_HostAccess may represent a count of allQ-Trees that can be mounted on any of the DEV hosts. QTrees UATHostAccess may represent a count of all Q-Trees that can be mounted onany of the UAT hosts. QTrees_PROD/DR_HostAccess may represent a count ofall Q-Trees that can be mounted on any of the PROD/DR hosts.Missing_QTrees may represent a count of all Q-Trees that can be mountedon any of the PROD/DR hosts and are not being backed up in BREWS.Failed_Qtrees_Backup may represent a count of all Q-Trees where backuphas failed in BREWS (Full Backup OR Incremental Backup).Dup_Host_Policies may represent a count of Duplicate Policies associatedwith hosts that are being backed up in BREWS. Dup_QTree_Policies mayrepresent a count of all Duplicate Policies associated with Q-Trees thatare being backed up in BREWS. Multiple_Host_Env may represent a count ofdifferent environments associated with one host in TAMS.

As shown in FIG. 5 , the metrics may be applied across various teams,groups, etc. The teams may include: X3CDOGOFASTOPERATE may represent aQueue Identifier for one of the Support Teams. X3CDOGOSCM may representa Queue Identifier for one of the Support Teams. X3CDOGOEQC mayrepresent a Queue Identifier for one of the Support Teams. Additionalteams, groups and/or other units may be added.

By selecting on a “Fixit” icon, an embodiment of the present inventionmay present additional documentation, data and/or interfaces thatprovide the steps required or suggested to fix or address the issue. Forexample, an embodiment of the present invention may provide astep-by-step guide. The interface may provide information to address thespecific issues, e.g., submit PRIME request for the purpose of addingTape backup policy and/or schedule to an existing NAS Q-tree. Thestep-by-step guide may include pre-requisites and/or other information.In this example, the user may be instructed to access PRIME with a linkon how to obtain the suggested or required access. Next, the user may beinstructed to contact a product owner to obtain the correct PrimeForecast and Prime Project associated with the Prime Forecastinformation and further ask the product owner to add the user toappropriate projects with “edit” or other access which may be considereda pre-requisite for the user's ability to submit PRIME requests againstthat project. Training courses and other relevant information may alsobe presented. According to another embodiment of the present invention,the “Fixit” icon may automatically initiate one or more steps, contactsand/or actions relevant to the underlying issue to further expedite thevalidation process.

By interacting with a count number, shown in FIG. 5 , an embodiment ofthe present invention may provide more information to the ApplicationTeam. For example, raw data may include a list of hosts for which thebackup has failed (e.g., Failed Backup: Host_ABC000; Host_ABC001). Thisinformation may be used to determine impact and also drill down andaccess information on the impacted assets.

The interface illustrated in FIG. 5 may be accessed from various userdevices, including computers, mobile devices, smart phones, wearables,etc.

Other embodiments, uses, and advantages of the invention will beapparent to those skilled in the art from consideration of thespecification and practice of the invention disclosed herein. Thespecification and examples should be considered exemplary only, and thescope of the invention is accordingly not intended to be limitedthereby.

While the exemplary embodiments described herein may show the variousembodiments of the invention (or portions thereof) collocated, it is tobe appreciated that the various components of the various embodimentsmay be located at distant portions of a distributed network, such as alocal area network, a wide area network, a telecommunications network,an intranet and/or the Internet, or within a dedicated object handlingsystem. Thus, it should be appreciated that the components of thevarious embodiments may be combined into one or more devices orcollocated on a particular node of a distributed network, such as atelecommunications network, for example. As will be appreciated from thefollowing description, and for reasons of computational efficiency, thecomponents of the various embodiments may be arranged at any locationwithin a distributed network without affecting the operation of therespective system.

Data and information maintained by a Processor may be stored andcataloged in a Database which may comprise or interface with asearchable database. The database may comprise, include or interface toa relational database. Other databases, such as a query format database,a Standard Query Language (SQL) format database, a storage area network(SAN), or another similar data storage device, query format, platform orresource may be used. The database may comprise a single database or acollection of databases, dedicated or otherwise. In one embodiment, thedatabase may store or cooperate with other databases to store thevarious data and information described herein. In some embodiments, thedatabase may comprise a file management system, program or applicationfor storing and maintaining data and information used or generated bythe various features and functions of the systems and methods describedherein. In some embodiments, the database may store, maintain and permitaccess to participant information, transaction information, accountinformation, and general information used to process transactions asdescribed herein. In some embodiments, the database is connecteddirectly to the Processor, which, in some embodiments, it is accessiblethrough a network, such as a communication network, for example.

Communications network may be comprised of, or may interface to any oneor more of, the Internet, an intranet, a Personal Area Network (PAN), aLocal Area Network (LAN), a Wide Area Network (WAN), a Metropolitan AreaNetwork (MAN), a storage area network (SAN), a frame relay connection,an Advanced Intelligent Network (AIN) connection, a synchronous opticalnetwork (SONET) connection, a digital T1, T3, E1 or E3 line, a DigitalData Service (DDS) connection, a Digital Subscriber Line (DSL)connection, an Ethernet connection, an Integrated Services DigitalNetwork (ISDN) line, a dial-up port such as a V.90, a V.34 or a V.34bisanalog modem connection, a cable modem, an Asynchronous Transfer Mode(ATM) connection, a Fiber Distributed Data Interface (FDDI) connection,or a Copper Distributed Data Interface (CDDI) connection.

Communications network may also comprise, include or interface to anyone or more of a Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) link, a GeneralPacket Radio Service (GPRS) link, a Global System for MobileCommunication (GSM) link, a Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) link ora Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) link such as a cellular phonechannel, a Global Positioning System (GPS) link, a cellular digitalpacket data (CDPD) link, a Research in Motion, Limited (RIM) duplexpaging type device, a Bluetooth radio link, or an IEEE 802.11-basedradio frequency link. Communications network 107 may further comprise,include or interface to any one or more of an RS-232 serial connection,an IEEE-1394 (Firewire) connection, a Fibre Channel connection, aninfrared (IrDA) port, a Small Computer Systems Interface (SCSI)connection, a Universal Serial Bus (USB) connection or another wired orwireless, digital or analog interface or connection.

In some embodiments, communication network may comprise a satellitecommunications network, such as a direct broadcast communication system(DBS) having the requisite number of dishes, satellites andtransmitter/receiver boxes, for example. Communications network may alsocomprise a telephone communications network, such as the Public SwitchedTelephone Network (PSTN). In another embodiment, communication networkmay comprise a Personal Branch Exchange (PBX), which may further connectto the PSTN.

In some embodiments, the processor may include any terminal (e.g., atypical personal computer system, telephone, personal digital assistant(PDA) or other like device) whereby a user may interact with a network,such as communications network, for example, that is responsible fortransmitting and delivering data and information used by the varioussystems and methods described herein. The processor may include, forinstance, a personal or laptop computer, a telephone, or PDA. Theprocessor may include a microprocessor, a microcontroller or othergeneral or special purpose device operating under programmed control.The processor may further include an electronic memory such as a randomaccess memory (RAM) or electronically programmable read only memory(EPROM), a storage such as a hard drive, a CDROM or a rewritable CDROMor another magnetic, optical or other media, and other associatedcomponents connected over an electronic bus, as will be appreciated bypersons skilled in the art. The processor may be equipped with anintegral or connectable cathode ray tube (CRT), a liquid crystal display(LCD), electroluminescent display, a light emitting diode (LED) oranother display screen, panel or device for viewing and manipulatingfiles, data and other resources, for instance using a graphical userinterface (GUI) or a command line interface (CLI). The processor mayalso include a network-enabled appliance, a browser-equipped or othernetwork-enabled cellular telephone, or another TCP/IP client or otherdevice.

The system of the invention or portions of the system of the inventionmay be in the form of a “processing machine,” such as a general purposecomputer, for example. As used herein, the term “processing machine” isto be understood to include at least one processor that uses at leastone memory. The at least one memory stores a set of instructions. Theinstructions may be either permanently or temporarily stored in thememory or memories of the processing machine. The processor executes theinstructions that are stored in the memory or memories in order toprocess data. The set of instructions may include various instructionsthat perform a particular task or tasks, such as those tasks describedabove in the flowcharts. Such a set of instructions for performing aparticular task may be characterized as a program, software program, orsimply software.

The embodiments of the present inventions are not to be limited in scopeby the specific embodiments described herein. For example, although manyof the embodiments disclosed herein have been described with referenceto identifying events and communicating notification, the principlesherein are equally applicable to other applications. Indeed, variousmodifications of the embodiments of the present inventions, in additionto those described herein, will be apparent to those of ordinary skillin the art from the foregoing description and accompanying drawings.Thus, such modifications are intended to fall within the scope of thefollowing appended claims.

Further, although the embodiments of the present inventions have beendescribed herein in the context of a particular implementation in aparticular environment for a particular purpose, those of ordinary skillin the art will recognize that its usefulness is not limited thereto andthat the embodiments of the present inventions can be beneficiallyimplemented in any number of environments for any number of purposes.Accordingly, the claims set forth below should be construed in view ofthe full breadth and spirit of the embodiments of the present inventionsas disclosed herein.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A computer implemented method for improvingdata back-up process, comprising the steps of: accessing one or moredata flows among plurality of back-up data collection sources associatedwith a plurality of central data repositories; analyzing the one or moredata flows to identify one or more breaks in data back-up processassociated with one or more data items with missing back-up records;identifying, based on the analysis of the one or more data flows, one ormore duplicate data back-up records; identifying, based on the analysisof the one or more data flows, one or more data back-up processes,associated with one or more back-up data collection sources, thatdeviate from a prescribed standard; generating a backup validation planto address the one or more breaks in data back-up process, the one ormore duplicate data back-up records, and the one or more data back-upprocesses that deviate from a prescribed standard; and automaticallyinitiating, via an interactive user interface, the backup validationplan.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of central datarepositories comprise a central asset repository, a central repositoryof backup data, a central repository of network attached storage, acentral application portfolio repository, and a central repository oftape backup data.
 3. The method of claim 1, further comprisingidentifying, based on the analysis of the one or more data flows, one ormore systematic errors in an operation of one or more back-up datacollection sources.
 4. The method of claim 1, further comprisingidentifying, based on the analysis of the one or more data flows, one ormore data records for removal from the data back-up process.
 5. Themethod of claim 4, wherein the identifying of the one or more datarecords for removal from the data back-up process comprises anidentification of one or more data retention policies that are no longerapplicable to corresponding one or more data records.
 6. The method ofclaim 4, wherein the one or more data records correspond toconfiguration data.
 7. The method of claim 1, wherein the interactiveuser interface provides access to a step-by-step guide to address one ormore underlying issues.
 8. The method of claim 1, wherein theinteractive user interface provides access to raw data relevant to anunderlying issue.
 9. The method of claim 1, wherein the interactive userinterface is accessed from plurality of user devices comprisingcomputers, mobile devices and wearables.
 10. The method of claim 1,further comprising accessing and processing one or more data flows fromone or more external back-up data collection sources.